Spanish may seem an obvious choice for an S meal, and indeed the others were a bit surprised that I hadn't found something more exotic (I'm sure the ancient Sumerians had a lovely cuisine!), but we rarely eat Spanish, partly because they are not all that well known for vegetarian food, so when I found a Spanish restaurant in London which not only had good reviews, but also had a decent vegetarian section in its menu (though, unusually, the section was labelled "mainly vegetarian" and had some options with ham and seafood in it, so watch out for that!) I went for it!
A nice drink in a small nearby pub, the Draft House Charlotte, which had a good selection of (mainly bottled, but some cask) beers, and a good atmosphere without being drowned out by music, and the benefit of us having a table by virtue of the fact that Joanne and Andrew got there VERY early, was followed by a short walk to our table at Navarros for some tapas.
The restaurant is deceptively large, as they led us through a small and very full upstairs, to a larger and quieter downstairs, which still managed to build up some nice atmosphere as it filled up during the evening.
The waiting staff were very friendly, polite and attentive. Being unfamiliar with eating tapas, we asked how many dishes we should order and were told that about 3 each would be good. Since Emma was starving, she went ahead and ordered 7 between the two of us, with Joanne and Andrew ordering another couple, plus a seafood paella for two (which needed 30 minutes to make, so we made sure we ordered that early on!)
As expected the dishes arrived at various times, which worked very well (and ensured there was enough space on the table as we could finish a dish before others arrived), and no dish arrived too late. We ordered a jug of sangria to wash it all down, which was very nice, and a large enough jug for us to get nicely merry on its effects!
The food was really nice, each dish tasting different from the others, even when they had similar ingredients, which was especially good for the veggie dishes as whilst there were options, the variants of the main ingredients were limited. The two goats cheese dishes we ordered were lovely and different, and the various potato / croquette dishes also very flavoursome, as was the tortilla. The paella was reputedly very nice too.
We were all very full after those 9 tapas plus paella dishes, which is saying something, as it takes a fair bit for me to feel full! I don't think any of the dishes were disliked by anyone, and all of them were finished off (some paella was left, though I think that is because Joanne and Andrew were very full, rather than not keen!).
Although we didn't really leave space for dessert, most of us had one anyway, and they too were really nice (creme caramel, creme brulee and a chocolate mousse-type-thing).
The total for the four of us came to under £150, which for the amount we ate and drank was really good. They do set menus too, which look to be good value, but they are for 4 people minimum, and contain meat dishes, so were not an option for us.
I'd definitely recommend this place, and can see myself coming back for more sometime!
A nice drink in a small nearby pub, the Draft House Charlotte, which had a good selection of (mainly bottled, but some cask) beers, and a good atmosphere without being drowned out by music, and the benefit of us having a table by virtue of the fact that Joanne and Andrew got there VERY early, was followed by a short walk to our table at Navarros for some tapas.
The restaurant is deceptively large, as they led us through a small and very full upstairs, to a larger and quieter downstairs, which still managed to build up some nice atmosphere as it filled up during the evening.
The waiting staff were very friendly, polite and attentive. Being unfamiliar with eating tapas, we asked how many dishes we should order and were told that about 3 each would be good. Since Emma was starving, she went ahead and ordered 7 between the two of us, with Joanne and Andrew ordering another couple, plus a seafood paella for two (which needed 30 minutes to make, so we made sure we ordered that early on!)
As expected the dishes arrived at various times, which worked very well (and ensured there was enough space on the table as we could finish a dish before others arrived), and no dish arrived too late. We ordered a jug of sangria to wash it all down, which was very nice, and a large enough jug for us to get nicely merry on its effects!
The food was really nice, each dish tasting different from the others, even when they had similar ingredients, which was especially good for the veggie dishes as whilst there were options, the variants of the main ingredients were limited. The two goats cheese dishes we ordered were lovely and different, and the various potato / croquette dishes also very flavoursome, as was the tortilla. The paella was reputedly very nice too.
We were all very full after those 9 tapas plus paella dishes, which is saying something, as it takes a fair bit for me to feel full! I don't think any of the dishes were disliked by anyone, and all of them were finished off (some paella was left, though I think that is because Joanne and Andrew were very full, rather than not keen!).
Although we didn't really leave space for dessert, most of us had one anyway, and they too were really nice (creme caramel, creme brulee and a chocolate mousse-type-thing).
The total for the four of us came to under £150, which for the amount we ate and drank was really good. They do set menus too, which look to be good value, but they are for 4 people minimum, and contain meat dishes, so were not an option for us.
I'd definitely recommend this place, and can see myself coming back for more sometime!
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